Many electric guitars include a guitar stop tailpiece to which the guitar strings are attached near the lowermost end of the guitar. It is common practice to remove a guitar stop tailpiece and replace it with a vibrato or tremolo, also commonly called a whammy bar, for the purpose of providing unique sounds while playing the guitar.
Vibrato mechanisms provide a means for changing the tension on all the strings of a guitar simultaneously. Changing the tension creates a pitch change in each vibrating string. This is accomplished by a moving tailpiece which pivots about an axis substantially perpendicular to the strings. A handle is provided to facilitate a pulse-like pivoting of the tailpiece while simultaneously playing the instrument.
Most vibrato devices are retrofitted to guitars. This involves either routing out an internal space for part of the mechanism, such as balancing springs, or otherwise drilling mounting holes to secure the device to the guitar body. In both cases, the guitar is permanently defaced and its resale value compromised. Furthermore, changing vibrato devices, or removing the device, leaves unsightly vestiges of the former mounting. It is no wonder that many guitar owners are hesitant to mount such devices.
There are numerous examples of vibrato devices and like mechanisms in the prior art. Two of these, which characterize the genre, are U.S. Pat. No. 4,497,236 to Rose and U.S. Pat. No. 4,632,005 to Steinberger.
The Bigsby® Vibrato is the ubiquitous after-market device. In a particular type of Bigsby Vibrato device, the type having a hinged plate connecting to the strap anchor at the side of the body of the guitar, the procedure for mounting involves removing the stop tailpiece, typically found on guitars with a Tune-O-Matic® style bridge. The device is then mounted to the top surface of the guitar body with two screws while the hinged plate is mounted to the side surface with four screws, the hinged plate accommodating a strap anchor screw there through an aperture. The mounting requires new holes in the guitar for the particular fastener layout. It would be desirable to accomplish the mounting without drilling new holes. What is needed and missing in the prior art is a mounting adapter for a vibrato device, and specifically a Bigsby Vibrato device of the hinged type aforementioned, which utilizes the screw holes vacated by the removal of the stop tailpiece and the strap anchor.
Furthermore, it would be desirable, when mounting the vibrato device, to effectively replace the stop tailpiece without changing the angle of the bend of the strings over the bridge. This bend effectively holds the location of an individual string in its saddle on the bridge and the angle determines the sufficient amount of downward pull required to stabilize the configuration. If the angle is too shallow, the string may drift from its saddle location and cause it to go out of tune. The angle could become too shallow if the vibrato device is located too far rearward of the bridge.
Additionally, if the hold-down bar of the vibrato device is not located at the position of the stop-tailpiece, the dynamic of the strings could be changed from that of the original design, potentially compromising the tonal quality of the instrument. The angle of bend over the bridge creates certain forces that act both on the top surface of the guitar and on the strings themselves. The resultant of those forces defines the vibratory modes and resonance qualities of the guitar. A musician with an ear for his or her particular instrument would not want to drift from the delicate balance achieved by the artisan designer. A mounting adapter apparatus of preferred design, therefore, would locate the hold-down bar of the vibrato device to replicate the original string dynamics defined by the stop tailpiece.
The present invention provides an adapter apparatus having a first plate to mount with the stop tailpiece screws and a second plate to mount with the strap anchor screw. Both plates have pre-drilled holes to receive the mounting screws of a vibrato device having a hinged member downwardly articulated to cover the strap anchor location. The vibrato device can be mounted flush with the adapter apparatus when screws substituting for the stop tailpiece are counter sunk to the plate surface. The flush mounting and the positioning of the device over the apparatus, as defined by the pre-drilled holes, allow for optimal mounting with respect to the preferred location previously occupied by the stop tailpiece. Footpads, or bumpers, beneath the plates are used to protect the finished surfaces of the guitar.
The adapter apparatus of the present invention is comprised of two plates to minimize the footprint on the guitar. As a matter of fact, the plates themselves are of minimal area to cause them to be essentially hidden beneath the vibrato device. In avoiding over-sizing a plate, or plates, the added weight of the installation is thereby reduced. Furthermore, the concealment of the apparatus gives the appearance of a factory installment.